Rotary internal-combustion engine



Feb. 25,' 1930. J, A, @ROVER 1,748,568

ROTARY INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE j /U 43 gg i,

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J. A. GRovER y ROTARY INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE A 4 s sheets-'sheet 2 Filed April 7, 1927 mw: T0 my we. ...A ,m 0 J Feb. 25, 1930.` J. A. GRovER ROTARY INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINEI Filed April 7; 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR John A. Gro ver Patented reaffzs, 193e yParENT orrlca 30m' A. GROVEB, OF COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO vnormar INTERNAL-connusrlon ENcrNn appnaon med April '1,

My invention' relates to rotary internalcombustion engines. My object is to provide an engine'of this class having certain advantages and novel features, amonguwhich may be mentioned the following: The mixture is compre'ed in a compression chamber and delivered to the combustion chamber. By making the capacity of the compression chamber greater than that of ,the combustion chamber, said compression chamber becomes a super-charger. There are no movable valves, cams, pistons, connecting rods nor crank shafts. It can be run at a much higher speed and with less vibration thanV areciprocatingl 15. engine. It has two power impulses to each revolution of the drive shaft. It has means which prevent contamination of the .oil by ythe gasoline or carbon. It has a perfect exhaust, therefore does not contaminate lthe next charge. Carbon can not collect in the combustion chamber. It has bearings which can be taken u from above instead of from underneath. ther objects will appear as the description progresses.

' Figure 1 represents a vertical cross section of my engine taken on the line 1-1 in Fig. 2; Fig. 2, cross sectional elevation of the engine on the line 2-2in Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a side elevation of the partition" -looking from a fragmentary slde elevation of the wheel 21 Fig. 9 a fragmentary elevation partly in secaon, f the wheel V2o miami', the annular groove 58 and the por-ts v59v leading intothe oil chamber Fig. 10,*an elevation of a pair of vanes, one-vane beinin section; Fig.` 11, a side elevation, pa roken away, of 10; Fig.' 12, a plan an end elevation of a.

cross section of the wheel 20v looking towards the partition from `the compression chamber and Fig. 14, a sectional elevation of wheel'20` are rotatably mounted onbosses 15-17. A

on the line lll-14` in Fig. 13. Although I show the preferred embodipartition and the side plates 1f-5 are bolted the compreion chamber side;- Fig, 4, a secpair of segmental )ournals Fig.' 13, a vertical 1927. seal No. 131,733.

ment of my invention I do not thereby limit myself to the precise form shown, but wish it understood that Within` the scope of what hereinafter is claimed, various changes in the details of construction may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. The case comprisesl two cylindrical shells 1 2; a partition 3 and two side plates 4-5. The cylindrical shells 1--2 are bolted to the to the cylindrical shells 1-2, respectively. A jport 5 extends diagonally through the partition 3. A groove 6 in one side of the partition'3 communicates with one end of the f port 5 and a Vgroove 7 in the opposite side of 55 the partition 3 communicates with the other end of the port 5. A water chamber 8 in the partition communicates with water chambers 9 and 10 in cylindrical shells 1 and 2, respectively. A water chamber 11. in Vside plate 4 is in open communication with water chamber 9 anda water chamber 12 in side plate 5 communicates with Water chamber 10. An intake 13 enters water chamber 12 and an outlet 14 extends from water chamber 11. Ar kfuel intake 52 is located in cylindrical shell 1.l A spark plug 53, a main exhaust '54, a

'secondary exhaust 55, and a recess 56 are located in cylindrical shell 2. Two cylindrical bosses15-16 extend concentrically from the sides of partition 3. A boss 17 on side plate; 4 and a boss 18 on side plate 5 are disposed concentricallv with bosses 15f16. A shaft- 1 9 is journalled lin side plates 4-and 5 the center of said shaft being off the center of the bosses., Wheels 20-21 are rigidly mounted on shaft 19. Wheel 20 is provided with two pairs of-segmental bearings 22-23 in` its rim and recesses '24-25 segmental` journals26f-27 are disposed in segmental -90 bearings l22---23 respectively. Ports 28-29 in the rim ,of wheel 20 open through the periphery and side. Wheel 21 is provided with apair of peripheral ports like ports 28-29 which communicate with groove 7.v Hollow 9,5

"vanes 30-31 are slidably disposed between segmental journals 26-,27 respectively and are provided with ring portions 32'-33-which an annular groove 58 in each wheel.

` ed cross arms.

in each hollow vane by pivot 35.` A shoe 36 is mounted in the end of each hollow vane and loosely connected to a pair of s aid weight- A spring 37 is connected to each pivot 35 and the free ends disposed against the shoe 36. The ring portions of each pair of vanes are annularly ribbed and rooved and disposed so that the ribs of one t into the grooves of the adjacent ring portions as shown in Fig. 1. Rings 38-.39 are secured to wheels 20-21, respectively, and run in annular grooves in the sides of partition 3. Theserings are provided with packing ring 40. `A slot 42 in each side. plate communicates with the adjacent oil reservoir 41. A supply duct 43 is in communication with oil reservoir 41 via drain duct 44 and with the interior of the case. A11 oil chamber 45 in each wheel is provided with 'a plurality of tubes 46 which run-in anannular groove 47 in the adjacent sideplate. The groove 47 communicates with oil reservoir 41 via a slot 48. 'A drain duct 50 in each side plate leads from supply duct 43 to a cock'57. The supply duct 43 extends into The annular groove 58 communicates with the oil chamber within the wheel via ports 59. The

drawings show the vanes in the proper positions to commence -a round of operations which will now be described.

Asshaft 19 revolves clockwise (Fig. '2), vane 30 sucks the mixture through intake 52 and into the compression chamber 60. rlhe vane31 follows and passes intake 52 thereby closing the mixture in compression chamber 60. Asvane 31 continues it compresses the mixture until port 28 in wheel 20. communicates with groove 6 in the partition 3. During the time port 28 is in communication with Vgroove 6, the compressed charge passes through port 28, groove 6,. ort 5, groove 7,

land is delivered to the com Austion chamber i 61 via a peripheral port in wheel 21, (Fig. 5)

where it is ignitedby the spark plug 53 and exhausted through main exhaust 54. -These operations take place during one half of the revolution of the shaft 19. A similar set of operations take place during the remaining half of the revolution when port 29comes into communication with groove 6. Therefore there are two power' impulses to each revolution of the shaft 19.` `1f any gases of combustion fail to exhaust through main exhaust 54, they may escape through secondary exhaust 55. 1f any gases pass by secondary exhaust 55 they will collect in recess 56 and permit the vanes to pass over them, thereby eliminating any back pressure. Oil from supply duct 43 enters annular groove 58 and is conveyed to oil chamber 45 via ports v. j 59. When the wheel is revolved, the oil in chamber45 'is thrown to the outer wall vof the chamber 45 and escapes throughtubes`4 in over slot 48. 1f any oil escapes from annu ar groove 58 outside the wheel, it will be thrown to the inside of the rim of the wheel and pass through slot 42 into oil reservoir 41. Oil duct 63 conveys oil from reservoir 41 to the shaft 19. The water chambers are con` nected to a radiator in the regular manner. Since each wheel rotates about the center of the shaft 19 and the vanes rotate about the center of the bosses, the segmental journals slide radially on the vanes and rotate slightly in the segmental bearings. The top of each wheel runs against the adjacent cylindrical Wall. A packing bar 65 is disposed adjacent to each wheel and held against said wheel by a spring 67. While-the engine is running centrifugal force holds the shoes tightly against the adjacent cylindrical wall. To counter balance this action, the weighted cross arms are provided. The weights on each pair of cross arms equal the weight of the shoe to which said cross arms are connected. The centrifugal force due to the weights causes the cross arms to exert a pull inward on the shoes.

'j I claim:

In' a rotary internal combustion engine, the combination of a case having a circular interior;- a solid shaft journalled in said case eccentric therewith; a partition in said case dividing the interior into a pair of concen-` tric `circular compartments, said partition containing a diagonal port therethrough and a curved groove in each side communicating With said diagonal port, said grooves being disposed so as to conform to arcs of circles -concentric with said solid shaft; a circular 4wheel adjacent to said peripheral ports and journalled concentrically with said circular compartments, the vanes in the compression chamber being disposed behind the peripheral ports and the.vanes in the combustion chamber, in advance of the peripheral ports relative to the direction of travel.

JOHN A. GRovER. 

